Expected to step up to fill the void are junior Ed Baker and senior Dave Martin on the men's side. Last Saturday, both men performed well, considering the late start to practice.

"Both men ran very well," Haggerty said. "Martin was eighth, and Baker was ninth out of about 103 finishers."

Moynihan is likely to step up to fill Schotte's shoes this season on the women's side. Unfortunately, the Invitational was not a great indicator of Moynihan's ability, as she finished 26th in the meet.

" I had to take 11 weeks at the end of the last spring season completely off due to a stress fracture in the upper neck of my femur," Moynihan said. "That just meant that my training this summer was slightly more cautious, and my mileage wasn't as high coming back in to the season. But the injury is completely recovered, and I hope that I will consistently improve throughout the season as my training becomes stronger."

The men, who finished with a record of 43-14 overall, scored some key wins last fall, defeating rival Yale 24-31 (lower score wins). Tougher competition will come from the likes of formidable opponents Brown and Northeastern, which the Crimson will face this Friday at Franklin Park, Harvard's home course.

"Brown is looking pretty good this year, and will probably be a pretty tough race," Haggerty said. "The Northeastern men have improved from last year. We certainly expect to put up a good fight. But I don't expect the team to come together until the middle of October. And that's done on purpose, by design."

Haggerty said he is unsure of the threat the Northeastern women will present to the Crimson, because the two teams did not compete against each other last season.

Today both the men and women's cross-country teams will compete against Brown and Northeastern at 4 p.m. at Franklin Park, weather conditions permitting. The Crimson will be scuffing up the turf in the first home meet of the season.